Among the 715 free workshops and presentations set to attract a great deal of attention this year are teachings from New York Times’ best-selling book – “Influencer: The Power to Change Anything”; insight from the landmark Cop15 Taskforce on “How to implement extremely sustainable events that transform a destination” and important first phase findings from Convention 2020, a new piece of global market research that endeavours to reveal the trends and pressures set to change the shape of the international meetings and conventions market in 10 years’ time.
In a last minute change to the schedule to reflect current events in Europe, Martin Sirk, CEO of ICCA will present a session on the ‘Impact and Implications of the Iceland Volcano Eruption’. This will address both the short-term reaction and immediate solutions used by event and meeting planners as well as looking at the long-term implications for insurance, risk assessment and contingency planning within the industry.
Since its launch eight years ago, IMEX has developed an extensive programme of English and German language seminars in response to visitor demand and a rapidly growing recognition of the role that live professional education and development plays in creating and sustaining a vibrant, talented and innovative industry.
Many of the sessions are devised and delivered with the help of leading industry association partners, individual experts or recognised keynote speakers. Each is designed to provide vital information, incisive debate or access to thought-leadership for the benefit of all IMEX exhibitors, hosted buyers and trade visitors. All are provided free of charge with no need to book.
German language session highlights include “New trends in German media” by TV news editor, Christoph Teuner and “Trends in social media and online marketing” from Saphiron Management and Technology Consultants. All The majority of German seminars are organised by IMEX founding strategic partner, the German Convention Bureau (GCB).
Last year IMEX launched Meetings Under the Microscope, a new initiative designed to help meeting planners look beyond the logistics of meetings and events planning to understand some of the new science and psychology behind event content and participant preparation and engagement. This year the programme has been expanded with additional toolkits and education sessions. Highlights include “Getting into the mood to meet: Meetings Mindset” by Jon Bradshaw, founder of Equinox Motivation and IMEX Business Development Director, and “Return on Expectations – Lessons from Einstein”, which will be presented by Jeremy Cassell and Tom Bird, of Performance Improvement Consultancy RTP.
Among new speakers from the corporate sector will be Shawn Radek, VP of Deutsche Bank, who will share experience and provide insight into how the bank has developed a successful events department.
New stress-release workshops
Also new will be the introduction of short hatha yoga, Qi Gong and mediation sessions to put busy visitors in the right frame of mind for a hectic day ahead or simply to re-energise them during the day. A variety of stress-release sessions will take place every day at various times.
This year IMEX has also launched a fully searchable online diary of IMEX events and seminars so that website users can search by topic such as ‘corporate responsibility’, ‘green’ or ‘cross-cultural’ or by presenter, such as ‘IAPCO’ or ‘Fast Future’. Registered hosted buyers and visitors are also able to add seminars to their online diaries to help them plan their day effectively.
In addition to educational events, users will also be able to search all social events being staged by exhibitors or show organisers. These include cocktail receptions, on-stand competitions, networking, forums and other special events plus details of landmark events such as the CIM Cocoon Club Party and the IMEX Gala Dinner.
